Infantry

Infantry is by far the most common unit type in Empire: Total War and is critical for all factions as it is the best suited type of unit for waging ground wars. Infantry should form the backbone of all your land based forces with the two other types of land based units, Cavalry and Artillery, filling more of a support role. While there are a huge number of specialized variations of units in the game, in general all infantry tends to conform to five types. We have included a basic chart of representative stats for each of these types of infantry. Note that for most units the specific stats will change slightly as you progress technologically and based on what faction you are playing as.

Unit Size

150

Range

70

Accuracy

35

Reloading Skill

20

Ammunition

15

Melee Attack

5

Charge Bonus

8

Defense

11

Morale

6

Line Infantry

Line Infantry are the vanilla infantry force of Empire: Total War. Line infantry should be an important component of all armies because they feature good generalist stats which make them useful on every battlefield versus every type of opposing force.

Line infantry units even in the beginning of the game have a special ability that makes them resistant to morale shocks. This is incredibly important as all infantry units are more prone to being broken and running from the field than simply destroyed. This ability makes line infantry an ideal unit to position near the center of your battles as they are not likely to break and will increase the confidence of less reliable troops.

There are a number of important technologies which can drastically increase the effectiveness of line infantry. Among these are the various bayonet technologies, socket and plug bayonet for example, which will increase the melee attack of the line infantry and allow a progressively better rate of gun fire to continue even while in melee mode. Also the technology Fire by Rank is critical as it allows line infantry to form tighter lines without sacrificing firepower while also ignoring a small portion of the reloading time between volleys. Finally the technology Square Formation is critical. This technology allows line infantry to form immobile squares which provide a massive advantage versus enemy cavalry.

Generally the best tactic to use with line infantry during a battle is to keep them in long lines composed of separate smaller groupings of two to four units each. This will allow you to quickly readjust sections of your line particularly in the case of flanking cavalry or if the opportunity to envelope the opposing army arises. Keeping line infantry in lines makes it both harder for your opponent to break through your forces and it allows you to bring a greater amount of firepower to bear against an opposing unit at one time. Before researching Fire by Rank this tactic is even more critical as only the first line to two lines of your infantry will fire their weapons.

As you progress through campaign mode a variety of "elite" line infantry units may become available, depending on your technology and faction. In general these are nearly identical to line infantry except they may be superior in one or two stats, usually accuracy and morale, but are a great deal more expensive. It is strongly recommend that you only use "elite" varieties of line infantry sparingly as their cost can weigh down even a well developed economy. Grenadiers are of special note because they introduce a new ability, grenades. Grenades quickly consume ammunition but can devastate large groups of opposing forces. In order to use grenadiers effectively you need to micromanage their regiments so that you neither under nor over use grenades. We highly recommend you do not bring more than three units of grenadiers with a full army. Grenadiers should always be positioned near the center of your line. This will maximize your chance to split the enemy forces when you rush to throw your grenades, either through the opposing units moving quickly away to avoid your grenades or from the losses that the grenades inflict.

Unit Size

60

Range

90

Accuracy

55

Reloading Skill

30

Ammunition

20

Melee Attack

5

Charge Bonus

4

Defense

6

Morale

6

Light Infantry

Light Infantry are an advanced unit type that will quickly become a powerful means of augmenting your forces once you have researched the Light Infantry Doctrine technology. Light infantry are long range units with good accuracy. Light infantry units are far less suited towards melee combat than line infantry.

Light infantry are best suited to the use as a screening force. To do this, position your light infantry in one grouping in front of your main force line. As you advance maintain this relative position so that the light infantry will be the first your units capable of firing on enemy forces. This will give you a range advantage in most battles where your light infantry can fire unmolested on the opposing line until that line covers the difference in the ranges. As your light infantry begins to take fire from the opposing line, or right before if you are especially careful, move your line infantry in front of your light infantry. This should draw the fire back on to your high defense line infantry which have a larger unit size. From this point in the battle as you lose line infantry you can exploit the holes in your line to move light infantry into position to harass the enemy.

There are two dangers in using this basic screening tactic. The first is that you may be too slow moving your line infantry in front of your light infantry. If this occurs the light infantry will likely be decimated and break, though with luck they will run behind your main line and may be recoupable by your general.

The second danger is that your opponent is using this tactic as well. If this is the case, whomever is fielding a larger proportion of light infantry can come off with a significant advantage. This is because during the segment of the battle where line infantry will be out of range, the more numerous light infantry can easily decimate the less numerous as light infantry has relatively small unit size and low defense. Unless your opponent makes positioning mistakes your best defense is to press quickly with your line infantry, completely forgoing your light infantry screen, and hope that the numerical advantage plays out favorably for you.

Like line infantry, as the campaign mode progresses you will also be given access to a variety of "elite" light infantry forces. These "elite" units generally have better melee attack and defense stats. In general this trade off of increased cost for a more well-rounded unit is a bad deal. We recommend you pass on all "elite" units that make such a trade as light infantry fills a very particular role on the battlefield and should not be forced into melee combat.

Unit Size

60

Range

70

Accuracy

25

Reloading Skill

10

Ammunition

3

Melee Attack

4

Charge Bonus

4

Defense

6

Morale

4

Irregulars

Irregulars are part time soldiers and armed citizenry. Irregulars are the worst infantry units available in the game. Irregulars in comparison to basic line infantry have much worse reloading skill, ammunition, defense, and morale. There are only two reasons to recruit irregulars, cost and availability.

The only situation where the use of irregulars is recommended is in garrisoning rebellious regions that are not likely to see attack. This opportunity rarely arises in the campaigns unless you invest heavily in technologies which cause the lower classes to clamor for reform.

If you are forced to make a stand with Irregulars try to maximize the number of morale bonuses granted to them. To do this position them on or inside structures, use other higher morale units as a screen so the irregulars take less fire, position a general if you have one in the battle in the middle of the irregulars, and finally place a single unit guarding your flank. In a situation like this never rely on the irregulars to fill any critical position, such as a front line forces, their low unit size and morale virtually guarantees they will break quickly.

Unit Size

120

Range

70

Accuracy

25

Reloading Skill

10

Ammunition

15

Melee Attack

4

Charge Bonus

8

Defense

9

Morale

4

Militias

Militias are the approximate middle ground between line infantry and irregulars. Like irregulars militias have worse stats than line infantry but are generally cheaper. Unlike irregulars, militias have a much larger unit size nearly equal to line infantry.

Like irregulars militia units are only of real use as a garrison force. The difference is that their substantially better stats make them far more capable defenders. Militias should be the first choice for garrisoning any region capital, fort, or city where you expect an even remote chance of being attacked. As militia units should only be used defensively we recommend you follow the same tactical suggestions made for the deployment of irregulars.

Unit Size

60

Range

125

Accuracy

70

Reloading Skill

35

Ammunition

20

Melee Attack

7

Charge Bonus

8

Defense

7

Morale

7

Riflemen

Riflemen as a term describes a variety of different types of elite extreme range units. Riflemen have better than average stats in comparison to either line infantry or light infantry and a much longer range than either. All riflemen units are balanced by their cost of production and a requirement of late game technologies or buildings. Some types of riflemen units are further regulated by a strict limit to the number that can be active at once.

Riflemen can be used in two distinct tactics. The first of these is as a replacement for light infantry in the screening tactic described under light infantry. There are multiple benefits of this, one is that riflemen units have an even longer range allowing them more time to fire upon the enemy unmolested before you need to move your line infantry in front of them. Another benefit is that they are less likely to be met by a similar arrangement of opposing units because of the difficult requirements to recruit riflemen. Even if they are met by a larger number of opposing light infantry you can often continue to use this tactic as the extra time the riflemen have to fire on the light infantry offsets any numeric advantage your opponent may have had.

The second tactic enabled by riflemen is to place a single unit on each of the ends of your main combat line. These two cap units will then be capable, because of their extreme range, of engaging the sides of the enemy force before the opposing force can bring any firearms to bear. This leaves the opposing commander three possible courses of action. The opposing commander can press the ends of their line which are under attack forward as quickly as possible, this leaves them vulnerable to sustained fire from the riflemen. At this point you can break a portion of your line to defend your riflemen and isolate the pressed enemy unit. If this occurs you should be able to claim an early numerical advantage. Alternatively the opposing commander can press their entire line forwards in order to close the distance. If the commander chooses this option concentrate your fire on the ends of the opposing line which should already be quite weak from the sustained rifle fire. One or both ends will break quickly and the enemy commander will not be capable of intercepting both broken units without abandoning the line. The third option the opposing commander may take is that they may pull the unit backwards or towards the rear center of their line. In either case this will compact their force allowing you to move both line ends up as fast as possible and envelope their force.